Beware the community banks and credit unions that have begun to develop relationships with small businesses, said Sam Kilmer, VP-market development at Harland Financial Solutions here."

EMV cards are allowing UNFCU here to take a "less aggressive stance" on risk compared to magnetic strip cards, according to Merrill Halpern, AVP-card service.

Michigan First CU here has used the integrated TrueChecks since September and has avoided $50,000 in potential check loss, according to Jeff Rolph, director, risk management, at the $640-million CU.

Workflows are the satisfying conclusion to a long journey that began with a paperless project at Alliant CU here, said Heather Lally, senior manager, business process improvement.

CIO Jim Morrell is an aspiring CEO. Morrell, CIO and SVP-support services at $443-million iQ CU here, said he believes that CIOs will be even more attractive CEO candidates once the economy recovers.

The CUNA Lending Council has release a new white paper: "Collections in a Post-Recession Environment," based on information gathered from lending and collections leaders at six credit unions as well as two experts from companies that provide outsourced collections services for financial institutions.

Don't let habit steer members into one type of mortgage, when another would be better.

SEATTLE – A longtime employee of Loomis Armored US Inc. was charged this week with siphoning about $200,000 from credit union and bank ATMs throughout Seattle he was charged with replenishing with cash.

ATLANTA — NCUA says it will begin independent insurance reviews for all federally-insured, state-chartered credit unions in North Carolina as the result of the ongoing release of its CAMEL rating by State Employees Credit Union in Raleigh.

SEATTLE – Bank Transfer Day is not over yet for BECU, where a variety of local religious groups calling themselves Washington Faith-Based Organizations to Divest from Bank of America, are planning to move hundreds of thousands of dollars of accounts this morning.

ROCKVILLE, Md. – MoneyU, a game-based financial education program, is joining with On Your Way, a reward-based web program, to attract and educate Generation Y to help improve the financial skills and well-being of credit unions’ young adult members.

NANUET, N.Y. – Police are searching for an armed man who robbed the Clarkstown branch of Palisades FCU Tuesday morning of $30,000, the second armed robbery at the credit union in a year.

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Dannemora FCU paid its members a bonus dividend of $226,000.

MIDLAND, Mich. – Members First CU has applied to state regulators to combine with Central Michigan Community FCU in nearby Clare, which would create a $300-million credit union.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Commerce CU has launched an investment services CUSO, Six Pillars Financial, that will offer financial planning, insurance and investment services.

LAREDO, Texas – A former employee of Laredo FCU yesterday was charged with last Friday’s robbery at the credit union, when an armed assailant bound and gagged two employees before accessing the vault.

MANCHESTER, N.H. – St. Mary’s Bank, the nation’s oldest credit union, is shutting down online banking, telephone banking and voicemail service this weekend while it moves to a new operations center.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Western CU said its longtime CEO Tom Furrey retired Dec. 31 as the $65-million credit union has signed a management agreement with Powerco CU, a $60-million Columbus credit union, under which Michael Shafer, president of Powerco, will manage Western CU.

WASHINGTON – Home loan rates declined to new depths again this week, as the benchmark 30-year rate remained below 4% for the sixth week in a row, according to Freddie Mac.

LOS ANGELES – Goldman Sachs asked a federal court this week to dismiss a billion-dollar suit brought by NCUA in the failure of U.S. Central FCU and WesCorp FCU, saying risks associated with $1.1 billion of mortgage-backed securities it underwrote for the two corporate giants were adequately disclosed in voluminous offering prospectuses.